Reign in Blood - Legacy

Legacy

Reign in Blood is regarded by critics as one of the most influential and extreme thrash metal albums ever produced. In its "Greatest Metal Bands Of All Time" poll, MTV praised Slayer's "downtuned rhythms, infectious guitar licks, graphically violent lyrics and grisly artwork," which they stated "set the standard for dozens of emerging thrash bands," while "Slayer's music was directly responsible for the rise of death metal." MTV described Reign in Blood as essential listening, and the album was ranked number 7 on IGN's "Top 25 Most Influential Metal Albums."

When asked during a press tour for 1994's Divine Intervention about the pressure of having to live up to Reign in Blood, King replied that the band did not try to better it, but rather just wanted to make music. In 2006, Blabbermouth's Don Kaye drew a comparison to the band's 2006 album Christ Illusion, and concluded that "Slayer may never make an album as incendiary as Reign in Blood again."

Rapper Necro was heavily influenced by the album, and has remarked that it takes him back to the 1980s, "when shit was pure." Ektomorf vocalist Zoltán Farkas describes the album as one of his primary influences. Paul Mazurkiewicz of Cannibal Corpse stated Lombardo's performance on the album helped him play faster throughout his career.

Hanneman has said that the album is his personal favorite, reasoning it is "so short and quick and to the point." Araya has remarked that Slayer's 2006 album Christ Illusion "comes close," but that "nothing can surpass Reign in Blood for intensity and impact. No one had heard anything like it before. In the twenty years since then, people have got more desensitized. What was over the top then might not be now." Drummer Paul Bostaph who was a Slayer member from 1992 to 2001 first heard the record when he was a member of Forbidden. During a party Bostaph walked towards music he heard from another room, and approached Forbidden guitarist Craig Locicero. When asked what music was playing, Locicero shouted "the new Slayer record." After listening closely to the record, he looked at Locicero, and concluded that his band was "fucked."